It’s only been a few hours, but the update already needs an update, as Giuliani clarifies, further narrowing the scope of what is a crime and whether Trump was involved:
Rudy Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani)
1/18/19, 4:22 AM
My statements on collusion haven’t changed. The misinterpretation has changed. The point is I represent the President not the campaign. But from both perspectives there is no involvement in collusion with Russians on the email hack, the only possible crime.
The next update might involve something like:
”Trump didn’t personally hack into DNC emails, and even then, it only counts if he did it while hugging Eric and singing the national anthem—and we know he’s incapable of all three”

from Wired:
“In short, we’ve reached a point in the Mueller probe where there are only two scenarios left: Either the president is compromised by the Russian government and has been working covertly to cooperate with Vladimir Putin after Russia helped win him the 2016 election — or Trump will go down in history as the world’s most famous “useful idiot,” as communists used to call those who could be co-opted to the cause without realizing it.”
https://www.wired.com/story/president-trump-mueller-russia-agent-putin/
—
Either way, we know enough now that it’s hard to imagine Trump coming out of this clean.
Even his lawyers now accept that the Russians interfered in the elections and that his campaign colluded with the Russians. The final thread they’re holding on to is that Trump wasn’t involved personally. To believe that, you have to believe that Trump, the self-proclaimed energetic, wiley, astute, hands-on businessman was oblivious of highly illegal and consequential things ALL the top people in his campaign were up to.
So those who still support him are supporting either a traitor or a clueless dotard. What does that make them?

Time to update my collusion progression report:
From
“no contacts with Russians”
To
“Ok, *some* perfunctory contacts but no collusion”
To
“we* tried to collude, but nothing came of it, so no harm, no foul.”
To
“Collusion is not a crime”
To (latest Giuliani interview with Chris Cuomo yesterday)
“Ok, there was collusion, but it was people in the campaign, not Trump.”
The last three of the above are derived directly from Statements made on TV by Trump’s personal lawyer.
*By the way, the “we” here are the three top people in the campaign—the campaign manager, the son and the son-in-law. Not to mention the long time personal lawyer, confidant and fixer who was still negotiating a Moscow Trump Tower deal.

When you think of all that Trump has done:
Shut down the government.
Divided Americans against Americans.
Alienated close neighbors.
Alienated allies.
Insulted friendly world leaders.
Given unaffordable tax breaks to people who don’t need it.
Hindered investigations into Russian election interference.
Withdrawn US from international agreements that were initiated BY US.
Taken away healthcare from citizens.
Initiated trade wars that weaken the economy.
Made US mistrusted by friends and allies, thus isolating The US.
Exacerbated racial tensions within the country.
Tanked the stock market.
Further ballooned the deficit.
Weakend environmental protections.
Further reduced trust in government.
Made allies reluctant to share intelligence by disclosing secrets to adversary.
Attacked and denigrated independent news media, a lynchpin of American democracy.
etc
...you’d think he wakes up every morning thinking: “What would Putin want?” And proceeds accordingly.